Regional project · Citizen science research
Aragón Photo
Rescuing and digitising the hidden photographic heritage of family collections and archives in Aragon
About the project
Aragón Photo, ‘Al rescate del patrimonio fotográfico oculto de Aragón’ (‘Rescuing Aragon’s hidden photographic heritage’), was a collective project to bring to light the photographic heritage scattered across family collections and archives throughout Aragon.
Printed photographs are perishable: too much light, heat or humidity can badly damage them. This gave the initiative a certain urgency, as family collections are an important part of our collective memory.
The project was mainly looking for material from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular attention to photographic plates, daguerreotypes and any material that predates paper prints.
It was designed and run by the University of Zaragoza, through a multidisciplinary team of art historians and researchers from the Aragonese Observatory of Art in the Public Sphere (OAAEP) and the Supercomputing and Physics of Complex and Biological Systems Group (COMPHYS).
Project objectives
- Find historical photographs kept by Aragonese families, including those who did not know their value or even that they existed.
- Assess, digitise and archive them to preserve them.
- Make the resulting archive available to everyone, on the project website and in the repositories of the Aragon Cultural Heritage Information System (SIPCA).
The role of Ibercivis
The University of Zaragoza team drew on the resources and staff of Fundación Ibercivis and its citizen science programme.
Our activities
- Development of a mobile app for Android and iOS as the first point of contact between collection owners and the research team, used to send sample photos for assessment.
- Digitisation of the collections at the owners’ homes, by appointment with the researchers.
- Each family received, free of charge, a digital copy of their photographs and a certificate acknowledging their contribution, with the option of being credited by name, under a pseudonym or anonymously.
- Public launch of the project in February 2020.
Project details
Type of project
Regional
Duration
2019 – 2020
Consortium
University of Zaragoza (Aragonese Observatory of Art in the Public Sphere and the COMPHYS group) and Fundación Ibercivis
Area
Citizen science research